Balloon-valve



J. R. GAMMETER.

BALLOON VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED nor 4. 19m.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. R. GAMMETER.v

BALLOON VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT 4, I918.

1,349,335. PatentedAug. 10,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI 2- fnzrenlofi John 1?. Gammeler UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE."

JOHN R. GAMMETER, OF AKRON, OHIO, .AlSSIGNOR TO THE B. F. GOODRICHCOMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BALLOON-VALVE.

Specification of Letters-Patent. Patented A g; 1Q 1920 Application filedOctober 4, 1918. Serial No. 256,887.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN R. GAMMETER, a citizen of the United States,residin at Akron, in the county of Summit and tate of Ohio, haveinvented a certainnew and useful Balloon-Valve, of which the followin isa specification.

his invention relates to the construction V of inwardly-openingdisk-type valve devices of large diameter such as are used forcontrolling the gas outlet of-a balloon, and its principal objects areto provide tight closure and easy and full opening with arelativelylight sprin pressure to furnish increased protection from rainand wind, and to enable the adjustment of the valve-operating cord to bemore readily and effectively performed than heretofore.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a balloon of the captiveobservation type having valve-operating devices appropriate for use inconnection with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a diametric section of the improved valve device.

Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view showing a fragment of the lippacking.

Fig. at is a front elevation of the valve device, partly broken away.

Fig. 5 is a fragmental front elevation showing a modified form of springconnection.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a known type of observation balloon havinga main gas bag or envelop 10 with air-inflated rear stabilizing fins 11for holding the nose of the balloon into the wind, and an internal airballonet chamber 12 adapted to be inflated by wind pressure receivedthrough an air scoop 13, the top wall 14 of said chamber acting as adiaphragm which rises and falls according to the difference in pressurebetween the gas in the main body of the bag and the air in the ballonetchamber. This movement of the ballonet wall is utilized in a knownmanner to operate the gas outlet valve 15-in the front end of theenvelop 10 through the medium of a longitudinal cord 16 connecting saidvalve with the tail end of the envelop, and a transverse cord 17connecting intermediate points of said cord and the ballonet wall 14. Bythis arrangement,

when the gas pressure becomes excessive, the downward pull oftheballonet wall on thecord 16 opens the valve 15 and relieves 1 thepressure until equilibrium is restored.

Provision is also made for manually operating the valve 15 to effect anemergency. discharge by means of a cord 18 leading from the aeronautscar or basket 19 through the wall of the gas b'agto a point ofconnection near the front end of cord 16.

The construction of the valve device 15 is shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4t.20 is a circular metal frame whose radial marginal flange is 5detachably secured by a ring 21 and bolts 22 to a flexible supportingmember 23 which forms part of the wall of the gas envelop and isprovided with a flexible packing lip 24 encircling the frame. 25 is anannular flat seat on the frame surrounding the dis charge opening 26. 27is an inwardly-opening valve of the disk type having the shape of ashallow cup whose seating margin is formed by an annular soft-rubberpacking member 28. This member, as shown in detail in Fig. 3, issubstantially L-shaped in cross'section, having a ribbed cylindricalflange 29 for securing it on the edge of the metal body of the valve,and an outwardly- 30 extending-s11bstantially-radial, thin edged taperedlip 30 which is cambered or concaved slightly in the directionof thevalve seat 25 when the valve is open, and flattens against said seatwhen the valve is closed as 5- indicated in Fig. 2. When the valve 27begins to open, thegas pressure causes the outer edge of this lip toremain in contact with the seat 25 through the first part of,

the inward movement of the valve body,

tachedto the outer face of the valve disk, 10.)

togetherwith links 34 connecting movable pivot points 35 at the innerends of the inwardly-extending long arms 36 of said levers with fixedpivot points 37 located upon ears 38 forming a part of the frame 20.105The short axially-extending arms 39 of the levers 31 are hooked attheir'forward ends and connected with the outer ends of a series of fourvalve-seating springs 40; The

inner ends of said springs are not con- 110 nected, as in formerconstructions, with the fixed frame, but they have a' floating an.

chorage which moves axially in and out with the valve disk 27. In thepreferred construction shown in. Figs. 2 and 4, this anchorage takes theform of a central plate 41 attached to a stufiing-box 42 on the centerof the valve disk. The springs are thus independent of each other, andif one should break, the operation of the others and the balance of thevalve would not be greatly affected. The spring anchorage may, however,be in the form of a free ring 41' as shown in the modification, Fig. 5,supported by the inner ends of the springs and therefore moving in andout with-the valve disk without being directly attached thereto. Ineither case the amount of extension of the springs in proportion to themovement of the valve during the opening of the latter is much less thanwhere the springs have a fixed anchorage, and the extreme resistance ofsaid springs is very nearly the same as their initial resistance. Onaccount of the fluid-pressure-sealed lip packing, the amount of springpressure necessary to maintain a tight closure of the valve is much lessthan with other forms of valve seating.v The power required to open thevalve is correspondingly less, and, because of thefloating springanchorage, the resistance does not appreciably increase from initial tofull opening.

On thev outer side of the frame 20 is formed an annular groove or gutter43 for the purpose of collecting any rain water which flows down overthe nose of the bale loon and diverting it around and away from theoperating parts of the valve. 1 also-provide a loose-edged shield orcover 44 over the front of the entire valve device to prevent the directimpact of wind pressure against the valve disk, this shield being ofwater-proof material, hexagonal in form and detachably secured at thecorners to the envelop by means of straps 45.

The forward end of the longitudinal cord 16 is formed by a cord section46 which may also be regarded as an extension of the man- Iual-operating cord 18, and is connected to the two by a loop 47. Thiscord section passes through the stuffing-box 42 in the center of thevalve disk and is secured to and wound up on a flat spool or pulley 48mounted to turn freely on a ,stud 49 on the front of said valve disk,the pulley rotating in a plane parallel to that of the valve. A pin 50,which determines the point where the cord section leaves the spool, ispositioned in anyone of a circumferential series of transverse holes 51formed in the edge of section. This device forms an easily oper-' atedadjustment for determining the point of opening of the valve disk underthe au- I tomatic action of the ballonet wall 14.

Various modifications of and omissions from the foregoing describedfeatures embodying my invention may be made without departing from thescopeof the claims.

I claim: I

1. The combination, with a fluid-pressure receptacle, of aninwardly-opening disktype valve controlling an outlet from saidreceptacle, an annular seat for said valve, a flexible-lipped',circumferential edge memberon the valve, extending substantiallyradially outward therefrom, for sealing the valve edge against said seatand adapted to remain in sealed engagement with the seat during asubstantial part of the movement of the valve body inwardly away fromsaid seat, a spring, a lever connection between said spring and valvefor permitting a large movement of the valve for a small variation ofspring tension, and mechanical means for forcing said .valve openagainst the spring and the fluid pressure.

2. The combination, with the gas bag of a balloon, of aninwardly-opening disk-type valve controlling a discharge opening in thenose of said bag, and a loose-edged shield detachably secured to saidbag in front of the valve for protecting the latter from the directimpact of the wind.

. 3. The combination with the gas bag of a balloon, of a disk valvecontrolling an outlet therefrom, controlling mechanism on the outside ofthe valve, and a detachable shield covering the face of the valve andextending beyond the periphery thereof for protecting said valve againstdirect, inward wind impact but permitting a fluid flow laterally fromunder said shield to the atmosphere.

4. The combination, with the gas bag of a balloon, of a disk valvecontrolling an outlet therefrom, a detachable shield covering the faceof the valve and extending beyond the periphery thereof, and a raingutter surrounding the valve under said shield, on the outside of thegas bag.

5. The combination, with a gas bag of a balloon having an outlet, of aninwardlyopening disk-type valve controlling said outlet, a spool mountedto rotate on the oiiter face of said valve in a plane substantiallyparallel to the plane of the valve, at one side of its center, a cordwound on said spool and passing through said valve into the gas bag, andmeans to prevent the un- -winding of the cord from the spool.

JOHN R. GAMMETER.

